A note from Thrive's founder, Dr. Erica Wollerman: Welcome to our latest blog series! Since I am often the one writing our Thrive blogs, I wanted to make sure that our readers would be able to also get to know the amazing team I work with at Thrive. I am so grateful to work with each of these therapists and they each offer our clients something special. Since we have a team of 7, we truly have a therapist who will match most clients who reach out to us in terms of style and personality. Anoushey is an amazingly calming, compassionate, and warm therapist. We are grateful to have her on the Thrive team!

​Tell us about you and why you wanted to become a therapist.My name is Anoushey and I’m so glad I get to share something about myself with you. Just like our clients, our lives as therapists are also shaped by our unique stories. I was born and raised in Pakistan, my upbringing, culture and education plays an important role in who I’m as a person and as a therapist. It also gives me an appreciation of the complexity of our emotional lives and the various factors that influence it.

Becoming a therapist: My father read me stories when I was a child, some were fables while others were fairy tales but most were real life anecdotes of the human experience. The narrations were always rich and vivid with descriptions of not only what people did but also how they felt. These early experiences made me curious and appreciative of people’s personal journeys especially the intricate tapestry of emotions that were manifested and expressed through their behavior.

As a teenager when I grew even more curious about mental health, I realized that in Pakistan mental health awareness and services were far and few. Nevertheless I came across an article one day that described the work of an organization providing services to children and teen survivors of Child Sexual Abuse in a safe and a confidential environment. This became a turning point in my life and led me to the path of pursuing therapy as my passion, profession and life’s calling.

What do you love about being a therapist? I believe I always wanted to be a therapist even when I didn’t really know that a profession like it even exists! To be chosen as a witness, confidante and a companion in someone’s journey of self-discovery. What an incredible honor and a coveted responsibility and one which I accept with great pride as well as humility.

How would you describe yourself as a therapist? I’m attentive, respectful, empathic and collaborative. I believe in my clients potential to be the best navigator of their own lives. I serve as an anchor, advocate and cheerleader and foster a non judgmental and warm relationship where my clients feel safe to explore and resolve their challenges.

Do you have a particular theory or framework that guides your work as a therapist? I am a client centered therapist which means that I believe that our clients carry within themselves a vast resource for self discovery and fulfillment. My role as a therapist is to provide a warm and genuine environment that empowers the clients to tap into this reservoir. As their therapist, I view my clients with an unconditional positive regard which is a necessary component of our therapeutic relationship and one that nurtures the client’s self-growth.

At the same time I challenge my clients to push their limits and take personal responsibility when I witness them getting stuck. I also rely on my education and training to use empirically proven therapeutic techniques to steer my clients as they encounter roadblocks.

Who do you love working with in therapy? Any and everyone! Every detail and dimension of a client’s background presents a unique opportunity to understand not only the client but also the world that they inhibit. It also makes me a better therapist because I get the opportunity to be taught by clients from varied age range and backgrounds and form a more holistic worldview.

In my professional experience I have worked with children for over 10 years and I absolutely love utilizing the tools of Play Therapy. I have helped children cope with trauma, navigate through adjustment and identity issues, loss, anxiety, depression as well as school related problems. Working with children and teens gives me immense joy as sometimes I might be the only grown up they feel safe enough to confide in or look up to as a role model. I whole heartedly embrace this privilege and model healthy boundaries, trusting relationship, emotional regulation, and fostering of healthy self-esteem. In addition I view working with parents and families as a crucial component of lasting change not only for the child but also for the whole family.

Share one thing you are passionate about in your professional or personal life. Being curious about people and places is a personal and professional passion. I love traveling especially with my husband and my two boys. Through travel, I want to give my kids the gift of learning and celebrating different cultures.

A note from Thrive's founder, Dr. Erica Wollerman: Welcome to our last blog of our Meet our Therapist Blog series! Since I am often the one writing our Thrive blogs, I wanted to make sure that our readers would be able to also get to know the amazing team I work with at Thrive. I am so grateful to work with each of these therapists and they each offer our clients something special.

My passion for the field developed first as a part of some self-exploration. I am a first generation Asian-American, and growing up with dual identities was not easy. Am I American? Or am I Asian? I discovered the field of psychology in college and learned so much about myself and my family dynamics. In the meantime, I was working as an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) specialist serving children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities. The work was so rewarding, but I soon realized something was missing. Because of the stigma of seeking help in my family’s culture, I didn’t realize that there is an entire field of people that are there to help others struggling with mental health, family, and relationship dynamics. I wanted to do more than behavior training, which led me to the field of family therapy.

Creating relationships and witnessing my client’s growth has been the most rewarding part about being a therapist. It is amazing to see the growth in someone on the first day they step into my office compared to the day they say goodbye. And I don’t think it is all me. I believe all my clients have potential for change and growth, some just need a little nudge and guidance. My style in therapy could be best described as collaborative and authentic. Not all clients are the same as they all have walked different paths in their lives. I pride myself in helping my clients use their existing strengths or interests towards their goals. In working with children and teens, that could mean anything from academic strengths, extracurricular interests, or even video games. Some of my teenage clients have frequently heard me use certain video games as an analogy in their treatment, with different levels being an obstacle they need to overcome to reach their goals.

In addition to being a licensed psychotherapist, I am also a Registered Play Therapist (RPT). This means that I’ve completed specialized training and supervision to conduct play therapy. Play therapy is the recommended treatment choice for children in all settings. For adults, it’s easier and more natural to sit down and tell the therapist what your needs are. For children and teens, they may need a different approach to resolve their problems and play is their language. Imagine if I had taken the words “I’m angry with you” out of your mouth, you would be extremely frustrated that you are unable to express this statement. As an RPT, I use toys, games, or experiential activities to assess and teach children and teens how to express their feelings, cope with challenges, and learn new ways of relating to others.

I’ve had experience with many types of clients from court mandated therapy to private practice, and the youngest being 18 months old to the oldest at 65 years old. Although I can work with clients from any walks of life, my passion is in working with children, teens, young adults, and parents. A framework that guides my practice with all my clients is attachment, or the emotional bond between people. I believe that the emotional connections we had as children inform the way we relate to others as we develop through adolescence and adulthood. Even my adult clients benefit from an attachment-based therapy as they often recognize how their relationship with others throughout their life has affected how they currently relate to their partner, friends, colleagues, or other relationships.

Although I spend a lot of time in the therapy room, I continue to practice self-care regularly through the week with things I love. Generally, I am either doing yoga, traveling abroad, enjoying geek-related things (video games, comics, attending cons, going to Disneyland etc.), or spending time with my family. As a military wife, family time is very important to me as we often don’t have enough hours in the day or even year together. Want to know another fun fact about me? My dog’s name is Obi wan! Yes, as in the Jedi.

A note from Thrive's founder, Dr. Erica Wollerman: Welcome to our latest blog series! Since I am often the one writing our Thrive blogs, I wanted to make sure that our readers would be able to also get to know the amazing team I work with at Thrive. I am so grateful to work with each of these therapists and they each offer our clients something special. Since we have a team of 6, we will be sharing these blogs over the coming summer weeks! ​

Tell us about you and why you wanted to become a therapist. I was about ten years old when I figured out what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” I consider myself very lucky as I understand that not everyone has this luxury. From a very early age I realized that I wanted to help people make a difference in their lives. My journey began when I volunteered my little brother’s first grade class, this experience gave me the opportunity to witness some of the struggles that children face in and outside of the classroom.

What do you love about being a therapist? It is my life’s passion and I can say with great certainty that I could not possibly imagine doing anything else! There is no better satisfaction than being part of an individual’s personal growth. I enjoy being people’s support system and advocate to help those people that many times are struggling to help themselves. My favorite part of being a clinician is witnessing first-hand the progress that a person can make with a little assistance and encouragement.

How would you describe yourself as a therapist? Client-centered! I believe that my clients are the experts on their own lives, and it is my job to learn about them from them and meet them where they are. I am empathetic, humorous, a story teller, warm and non-judgmental. I see my approach as a collaborative effort and take the time to work on building and nurturing trusting therapeutic relationships with my clients.

Who do you love working with in therapy? I enjoy working with school-age children, adolescents, adults and families. Although my passion began with my work with children, through my education and experience I learned to love and appreciate every stage of a human’s development. As a systemic thinker, I promote and advocate for family therapy whenever possible and appropriate. I believe that there is a lot of power to change, adapt or adjust to a situation when more members of a family are involved in treatment. My areas of focus include but not limited to depression, anxiety, academic and school-related struggles, attention deficit/hyperactivity, oppositional-defiance, grief and loss, self-harm, parenting, relationship and identity related issues.

Do you have a particular theory or framework that guides your work as a therapist? If so, describe it and tell us why you use that. I have been trained in multiple approaches such as Solution-Focused Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, Brief Strategic Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. My philosophy is that the approach should be good fit for the client not the other way around.

Share one thing you are passionate about in your professional or personal life. A professional goal I set myself post licensure was to become a clinical supervisor. I enjoy being a teacher and leader; becoming a clinical supervisor will give me the opportunity to help others grow professionally and help create the next generation of therapists. This goal will become a reality this year!

My personal passion is traveling! Culture and diversity never seize to amaze me. Although culture shock can be scary and intimidating, I find it fascinating. My goal is to visit all continents. At the end of this year, I will have visited 18 countries in 5 continents. My travels provide me the opportunity to learn about different, backgrounds, idiosyncrasies, traditions, customs and beliefs which I often incorporate into my treatment.

A note from Thrive's founder, Dr. Erica Wollerman: Welcome to our latest blog series! Since I am often the one writing our Thrive blogs, I wanted to make sure that our readers would be able to also get to know the amazing team I work with at Thrive. I am so grateful to work with each of these therapists and they each offer our clients something special. Since we have a team of 6, we will be sharing these blogs over the coming summer weeks! ​

Tell us about you and why you wanted to become a therapist. Hey there! My name is Angela and becoming a therapist was never something I thought would be my career path. I went to school in New York for acting and studied in a Shakespeare Conservatory in London. I fell in love with the process of researching the human condition, looking for the subtext, and finding ways to empathize with the hundreds of characters that would come my way through theatre, television, and movies. I studied Psychology to understand more about the human experience and how the brain works. I loved it. I loved it so much that I moved to England to train as a Drama and Movement therapist and had the opportunity to complete a Master’s program that combined two passions. I learned how to be a psychotherapist armed with creative tools and interventions to help people of all ages to reconnect with their creativity and support them in moving through trauma, grief, anxiety, depression, anger, and everything in between. I wanted to learn more about the systems of care in America and contribute to a growing body of mental health professionals who destigmatize mental health diagnosis by treating the person as a whole and not just a diagnosis. I went back to school for a Master’s in Social Work and concentrated on Families and Children. I discovered a new passion called Family Therapy, in which, I encourage my clients to bring as many family members as will fit on the couch! I guess that doesn’t answer the “why”! I learn a new “why” each and everyday. Today, I am a therapist because I will hold hope when it feels like it’s too heavy to hold on your own.

What do you love about being a therapist? I love having the honor of being a witness to a family or individuals growth process and the “ah-ha!” moments. I love being able to create a safe space for my clients to unpack their obstacles, hopes, dreams, and desires and then support them in learning new tools to add to their ever growing toolbox.

How would you describe yourself as a therapist? Present. Honest. Curious. Empathic. Resourceful.

Who do you love working with in therapy? I truly enjoy working with a variety of clients across the lifespan. It gives me joy to spend one session in the play therapy room with a five year client who is working out conflict with dinosaurs and the next supporting a mother and teenage daughter build their relationship through intimacy exercises. I am here to sit with the adult who is processing emotional blocks that are preventing them from reaching their goals to the couple who want to save their marriage. I love all these moments.

Do you have a particular theory or framework that guides your work as a therapist? If so, describe it and tell us why you use that. One framework that I use with couples includes work by John and Julie Gottman. The approach not only supports and repairs relationships, it also strengthens existing happy couples. I enjoy walking couples through “building love maps” and witness their growth as they learn new things about their partner!

Share one thing you are passionate about in your professional or personal life. I am currently working on becoming a certified Yin Yoga and Reiki practitioner. I am wildly passionate about using different healing modalities in my personal life and always looking for new ways to become energized and inspired by life!

A note from Thrive's founder, Dr. Erica Wollerman: Welcome to our latest blog series! Since I am often the one writing our Thrive blogs, I wanted to make sure that our readers would be able to also get to know the amazing team I work with at Thrive. I am so grateful to work with each of these therapists and they each offer our clients something special. Since we have a team of 6, we will be sharing these blogs over the coming summer weeks! ​

​Tell us about you and why you wanted to become a therapist. From a very early age I knew I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Growing up with a mother who was a nurse and an uncle who was a firefighter, I saw how impactful being there for someone in their most vulnerable state could be. And I knew I wanted to find a way to do this too. This desire led me to obtaining my doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Through my education and professional experiences I developed a great passion for working with adolescents, their parents, and adults.

What do you love about being a therapist? Being a therapist brings me so much joy. I get to connect with individuals from all walks of life and see the world through their lens. It is a pleasure working alongside my clients, supporting, guiding, and rooting them on as they brave the challenges life can sometimes bring. My clients are as much my teachers as I am theirs. My clients never cease to amaze and inspire me with their strength, courage, and resilience.

How would you describe yourself as a therapist? It is important to me that each client feels they have a safe space where they can speak freely about their thoughts and feelings, where they feel heard and understood without judgment. I hold that space for my clients and meet them where they are with an open mind and heart. I believe the therapeutic relationship is similar to being teammates. I am on my client’s team; I walk alongside them in their journey. I support, challenge, encourage, and empower my clients to make the changes they want to make.

Who do you love working with in therapy? I love my work with children, adolescents, adults, and parents. I particularly enjoy working with adolescents, as well as adults going through a life transition. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to: ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Behavioral Issues, Parenting, Life Transitions, Racial Identity, Relationship Issues, and Women's Issues.

Do you have a particular theory or framework that guides your work as a therapist? If so, describe it and tell us why you use that. My approach looks to help my clients become more understanding, accepting and compassionate in dealing with themselves and those they love. I incorporate evidence-based approaches that best fit the needs of each client. I integrate various frameworks including, family systems, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and acceptance and commitment therapy.

Share one thing you are passionate about in your professional or personal life. Although I love being a therapist, my biggest passion is being a mom. I enjoy spending time with my family outdoors taking advantage of the beautiful city we live in! I also love photography and enjoy shooting nature and architecture

By: Dr. Erica Wollerman

Since I am at times quoted in different articles, I thought it would be fun to post all of those articles in one place! Check out the following articles, videos, and posts about Thrive Therapy Studio since we started 2 years ago!

At Thrive, we take a positive, client centered approach to therapy that is focused on creating a genuine connection with our clients. If you would like to talk with a Thrive Therapist about yourself, your child, or teen attending therapy, please reach out to us by phone at 858-342-1304.

​As those of you who follow our page will know, we have had a busy start to 2018 at Thrive! Not only have we expanded on our group offerings but we have also added a new team member, Panicha Sillapawatayanon, AMFT. We are so incredibly excited to continue expanding our services and support to be able to help more children, teens, and families Thrive in San Diego!

This group is really special as it is all about helping build a strong relationship between a parent and their young child (age 2-3)

We love the opportunity group therapy provides to not only get more support for life’s challenges but to also help participants feel less alone in those challenges. We believe that the phases in our lives are unique and at times, best supported by others who really understand because they are going through it too! Plus, our groups are all facilitated by a therapist who is well versed in those challenges as well. Check out our group pages for more information or contact us now to sign up!

We also wanted to take this time to highlight our newest Thrive team member, Panicha Sillapawatayanon, AMFT. Since her arrival at Thrive, we have been so impressed with her enthusiasm and care for the children, teens, and families with whom she works. Panicha is passionate about helping families build stronger relationships and connections with each other as well as in helping children and teens manage their emotional experiences better. Panicha loves working with families affected by addiction, Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, and general parenting or behavioral challenges. We have been impressed with Panicha’s ability to connect with her clients quickly while also building in helpful skills to better manage their challenges. Check out her bio here for more information!

Panicha Sillapawatayanon, AMFT (IMF 95676) is a registered associate in marriage and family therapy that is supervised by Dr. Wollerman (PSY25614). ​

As our practice continues to grow, we plan to offer more and more opportunities for families, children, teens, and adults to receive support at our office. To stay connected with us and our offerings, please sign up for our newsletter through the following link: http://eepurl.com/cvGx5n.If you would like to talk with a Thrive Therapist about yourself, your child, or teen attending therapy, please reach out to us by phone at 858-342-1304. As always, thanks for reading and comments are always welcome regarding any issues around child or teen psychotherapy services in San Diego by Thrive Therapy Studio.

By: Dr. Erica Wollerman

​January 1st was a very big day for us at Thrive, and really for me in particular as the founder of Thrive Therapy Studio. You see, this is the day that we celebrated our first year anniversary of being a group therapy practice! Not only have we celebrated our first year of being a group practice, but we have also been able to expand our team of clinicians and services offered over the past year. While reflecting on the year, I feel so proud of the work we do, families we work with, and overarching values of our growing company!

At Thrive, we offer a different approach to psychotherapy in the sense that our clinical team focuses heavily on the relationships we develop with our clients. We all have different approaches to working with our clients, but this very relational, client-centered, and collaborative approach remains the same with any Thrive Team Member. This is one of the most important factors that has gone into choosing clinicians to join us at Thrive as I truly believe that therapy works best when we are collaborating with our clients and building a bridge with them to their goals. We believe in building people up so that they can learn to change things themselves with our support rather than a top down more clinical approach.

Since we have many different therapists to choose from, I feel confident in knowing that we can truly serve our community in so many different ways and that most people seeking therapy will feel that one of us will be a good fit for helping and supporting them. We offer individual therapy for children as young as 3 up through adulthood. We also are offering parent consultation services, either in conjunction with individual therapy for a child or teen or as a separate service to support parents. Special areas of interest and specialty for us as a whole includes the following: Autism, ADHD, Behavioral Issues, Parenting Issues, Anxiety, Depression, and Adjustment Issues. All of us are well versed in working with children, teens, and adults with a myriad of challenges.

We have even started offering all of our services in Spanish as well due to our lovely bilingual clinician, Jennifer Gonzalez, LMFT. Jennifer is wonderful in working with shame around parenting and increasing communication in parent-child relationships (check out her bio here!).

Dr. Maria Fowlks specializes in working with teens who are going through the pangs of adolescence and need a supportive space. Check out her bio here!

Angela Bianco, ASW, is skilled in working with individuals who are feeling stuck, frustrated, or bored with current parenting strategies. Check out her bio here!

And I, Dr. Erica Wollerman love working with individuals of any age who identify as perfectionists! Check out my bio here!

As I mentioned before, I am so proud of how far Thrive has come in one year and so excited to think of how many more people we can support in the coming years! To stay in the loop on our services offered and to receive updated information about Thrive, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter through the following link: http://eepurl.com/cvGx5n.

If you would like to talk with a Thrive Therapist about yourself for adult psychotherapy, your child, or teen attending therapy with one of us, please reach out to us by phone at 858-342-1304.

By: Dr. Erica Wollerman

If you have browsed our website to check out the services that we offer at Thrive, you may have noticed a section discussing parent consultation. Our passion for working with and supporting parents is a big part of what separates Thrive Therapy from other child and teen therapy providers, who may focus more just on the child or teen rather than the whole family system.

Since parent consultation is a service that is lesser known than individual or family therapy, I thought it might be helpful to share a bit about what parent consultation is and when it might be beneficial for you. First, parent consultation can be a separate service for parents or something incorporated into their own individual therapy or their child/teen’s therapy services. Often, when I am working with adults who happen to also be parents, we spend some of our sessions talking about their child or teen and how they are feeling about parenting, questions they may have, or how to best support their child/teen. When I work with children/teen clients, I also really like for parents to have a check in parent session with me around once a month or once every few months. This helps make sure that we are all on the same page and parents are feeling involved and supported as well.

When meeting for parent consultation sessions, you can definitely expect that we may discuss some things about your parenting approach or style that could be changed or improved. The really great thing about the way we work at Thrive though is that these recommendations come from a place of caring and wanting parents to feel more effective as parents, not ever from a place of judgment or criticism. At Thrive, we feel that everyone, including parents, kids, teens, are doing the best they can. We strive to help everyone in a family build understanding of each other and communicate effectively. Sometimes this might take dramatic parenting style changes – for example, setting more or less limits with your child/teen – and while this may be difficult, it is so rewarding to see the changes that can happen when all parties are open to it!

Here is a brief list of situations/challenges where parent consultation can be helpful:

Your child is exhibiting behavioral challenges (tantrums, aggression, emotional outbursts) and you just don’t know how to help them or make them stop

Your child has anxiety and you are unsure when you should push them to do more or allow them to do less

You feel that you are no longer sure of your parenting approach or style you want to use

You notice that you do not feel connected to your child or as though you understand them very well

Your child has a diagnosis that has been difficult for you to cope with

You have a history of neglect, abuse, trauma in your childhood that is making parenting feel like a triggering experience for you

In all of the above situations, parent consultation sessions can be enormously beneficial in helping parents manage their child’s behavior more effectively, regain confidence as a parent, feel supported, and improve your connection with your child/teen. At Thrive, we love supporting parents through these kinds of challenges and only wish that more parents took advantage of the support we can offer!

If you would like to talk with a Thrive Therapist about yourself, your child, or teen attending therapy or parent consultation sessions with one of us, please reach out to us by phone at 858-342-1304.

If you would like to receive updated information about Thrive Therapy, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter through the following link: http://eepurl.com/cvGx5n.

By: Dr. Erica Wollerman

Once parents have made the decision to bring their child or teen to therapy, a very common concern they may have is about how they should tell their child or teen that this is happening. Parents rightfully understand that some kids will perceive attending therapy as a weakness, problem, or judgment that something is wrong with them. I have to say that unfortunately, there is still a huge stigma around attending therapy so this concern is a valid one in my eyes.

The good news is that parents have a lot of power in this situation to change the way therapy is viewed, by their child/teen but also other members of the family. Here are a few guidelines to help manage these conversations:

Talk about therapy as a positive thing. One of the best things parents can do is to talk about, and actually view, therapy as a positive thing. Frame it as an opportunity to get support from an adult who cares. What I usually make sure families and clients know is that therapy in itself is not about something being “wrong” but about understanding ourselves and working on challenges that we all have. Please do not use therapy as a threat of “If you don’t shape up, we will have to take you to therapy,” this only works against you if you do end up bringing your child or teen in as they will most likely be less responsive and feel that it is a punishment to get out of, rather than an opportunity to learn and improve.

Share your positive experiences in therapy. If you are a parent who attends or has attended therapy, share that with your child or teen. Let them know that they are not alone in needing extra support from time to time. I would caution parents not to share too much about why they attended therapy, but just enough to let their child/teen know they are not alone.

Try not to overly focus on the reasons why you are bringing your child or teen to therapy. Please don’t tell them that you are bringing them because you think they have this problem or that problem. Tell them you want them to have a supportive adult besides you to talk to. Tell them that the time is theirs to use as they want to and to talk about what they would like. The less parents try to control therapy through their child or teen, the better their child or teen will respond.

Please don’t tell your child how much therapy is costing. This is a tough one but so important. Most children and teens realize that the services they receive cost money to some extent but the more this is emphasized, the more they feel pressure to “get better” as well as to not need therapy. While we do want our clients to feel better and resolve the issues that brought them to therapy, pressuring that goal does not help, particularly when it is financially motivated.

As a parent, I am confident you will find your own way to talk to your child or teen about attending therapy. Hopefully by using these guidelines, the conversation will go as well as possible!If you would like to talk with a Thrive Therapist about yourself, your child, or teen attending therapy with one of us, please reach out to us by phone at 858-342-1304.

If you would like to receive updated information about Thrive Therapy, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter through the following link: http://eepurl.com/cvGx5n.